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Highlighting this week’s Virtual Console releases is Nintendo’s classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Ocarina, of course, dealt with some controversy during its release due to the number of perfect scores the game received, and the game is still the highest ranked entry on Gamerankings.com. While gamers might dispute the “perfect” score, this entry of the franchise brought Zelda into full 3D for the first time, and is one of the best entries in the series. At 1000 Wii Points, this release is a bargain; the Wii-compatible Gamecube Ocarina releases are selling for above $30 on eBay. Two other titles hit the Virtual Console this week as well, Bio-Hazard Battle for the Genesis at 800 points, a decent side-scrolling shooter, and Chew-Man-Fu the Turbografx-16 a bizarre arcade action game with Pengo style gameplay at 600 points.

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Nintendo’s Japanese Virtual Console site now shows two additional emulated consoles, supposedly coming in 2007. The MSX was a popular platform in Japan; since this hardware was rarely seen in the US, the likelihood of seeing any VC titles for this platform stateside is unlikely. However, the Neo-Geo hardware hit both arcades and store shelves in the US, and has a huge library of titles that would be a great fit for the Virtual Console. No pricing appears to be set at this time for Neo-Geo releases, but MSX titles will sell for 800 points in Japan.

Destructoid has a Sega press release indicating Beyond Oasis, Vectorman, Sonic Spinball, and Sword of Vermillion are soon to be hitting Nintendo’s Virtual Console service. There isn’t an official release date, other than “soon” from Sega PR, but there are a couple of standout titles in the list, and some from gaming history. Sword of Vermillion isn’t a great RPG by today’s standards, but it does offer an early look at some of Yu Suzuki’s work. Beyond Oasis, though, is a strong action-RPG that saw a follow-up on the Sega Saturn in Legend of Oasis. Vectorman was strong platformer using pre-rendered 3-d graphics, and was generally seen as a response to the release of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES, so its only a little ironic that the game is coming to the Virtual Console after this week’s Nintendo releases.

This week’s Virtual Console release consists of three classic NES titles, all selling for 500 Wii Points. All three titles are platform games and represent some of the better releases for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Kirby’s Adventure started a franchise for Nintendo. Kid Icarus is another significant platformer in the NES pantheon and often causes gamers to wax nostalgic. Ice Climber fits more into the classic arcade gameplay model, but still offers some retro fun.

Nintendo’s Virtual Console releases for the week include titles for the Super Nintendo, Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16. Of main interest to gamers will be Nintendo’s Super Mario World, one of the original launch title for the Super NES and a strong entry in the Super Mario platformer franchise. The game, like other SNES titles, sells for 800 points. Also arriving this week is Gain Ground for the Sega Genesis at 800 points and VIGILANTE for the TurboGrafx-16 at 600 points.

Microsoft today announced a slew of classic titles that will shortly be making their way to the Xbox Live Arcade. The titles announced include:

3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures

Alien Hominid HD

Band of Bugs

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Catan (Settlers of Catan)

Eets: Chowdown

LUXOR 2

Paperboy

Root Beer Tapper

Worms

Specific release dates or prices aren’t available yet for these games, but assuming the prices are fairly reasonable, I expect we’ll see a lot of sales on XBLA next month. Castlevania is the obvious contender for most popular retro title, but Worms, Settlers of Catan and Alien Hominid are also titles that you should definitely check out for your retro library.

This Monday’s Virtual Console releases are lead by Nintendo’s classic cart racer, Mario Kart 64 for 1,000 Wii Points, but three other titles have hit was well, including Contra III: The Alien Wars for the Super Nintendo and two Genesis titles, Bonanza Bros. and Comix Zone at 800 points each. Comix Zone has hit a ton of platform in various Sega Genesis collections; Bonanza Bros. has only been in a few. Mario Kart is probably the shining gem in this round of releases, though.

Wii owners in North America should now be able to download the classic Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past via Nintendo’s online store for the virtual console. The title sells for the standard 800 point level set for Super Nintendo games on the service. Link To The Past is one of the high points of the franchise and the gameplay holds up well after all these years; 800 points for this is a bargain.

Sony has announced plans to drop a bunch of new content into the Playstation Store, according to Gamasutra. The company is making two classic PS1 games available for PSP transfer: Wipeout and Jet Moto, a couple of the more popular titles for the original Playstation. The titles will feature the standard $5.99 price point for all Playstation releases to date. In addition, owners of Genji: Days of the Blade will be able to grab a free alternate armor pack. Sony is also planning on releasing a multi-player upgrade for their downloadable launch title Blast Factor. The upgrade will not be free; gamers will have to pay $2.99 to get access to the new content, giving perhaps some insight into how Sony plans to handle add-on content in the future.

This “Virtual Console” Monday brings three new classic titles online for the Wii. This week, gamers get two shooters, Xevious for the NES at 500 points, R-Type III: The Third Lightning for the Super NES at 800 points, and a racing game, Moto Roader for the TurboGrafx-16 at 600 points. Gamers will probably be most familiar with Namco’s Xevious and Irem’s R-Type series, but Hudsonsoft’s Moto Roader may be worth a look for the 5 player multiplayer racing.